The Toa Salute | BIONICLE Deep Dive 

most likely wasn't intended but notice how nidhiki, after betraying lhikan and the other mangai, is in a form that doesn't actually let him do the fist bump even if he wanted to

The toa salute normalized fist bump greetings before covid.

We should also note Tahu's bravery to admit that he is not okay. I didn't catch it as a kid. With Tahu being known for his courage, it's really nice from the writers to show how terrible stoic bravery can be. With phrases like, "It's nothing." and, "Don't worry about scratches!", not only did it not help Tahu, but even made it worse and caused him to be a burden to the team when they had to fight him and flee Onu-Koro.

Ironically, Toa sets before 2009 couldnt do the Toa fistbump, since Bionicle line didnt have specialized hand pieces from the get go, using regular socket pieces instead. At best you can mimic a stump bump without going into alterations or mocing. G2 sets never had that parts issue, but they didnt bring back the fistbump gesture in what little lore that reboot had. Missed opportunities from both ends.

Onua and Pohatu were always very special friends. Earth and Stone are elements that work well in harmony.

Toa fist bumps were mentioned in the preliminary manuscript of the novel Tale of the Toa but they were removed in the finalized text alongside a host of other changes. I wonder who made this editorial choice because it seems like such a small detail to remove, yet fist bumps were kept and emphasized in other media.

3:30 I never noticed the little look Vakama gives Tahu here before

I'm not the only one who was crying during the Lhikan segment, right? Especially after Heroara's analysis of when it was taking place? 😭

This is why Legends of Metru Nui is my favorite bionicle movie.

During the Ignition trilogy, I remember a lot of instances of handshakes, which I found odd, as they would've been perfect opportunities to use the salute.

Ironically, my personal favourite Toa salute that we see on the screen is the one you didn’t go into; the one at Keetongu’s hideaway in _Web of Shadows_ . And there’s a couple of reasons for it. While it wasn’t explored as much in the movie, in the books and comics, the Toa Hordika all really struggled with their mutations - not just in body, but in mind. They couldn’t even enter the Great Temple of Ga-Metru because they thought they were abominations to what is a sacred place to Toa (if they’d known about the Rahaga being former Toa themselves at the time, they might have had a problem with that as well - on a side-note, I’m guessing the Temple is only sacred to natives of Metru Nui, as the Rahaga didn’t seem to have a problem with dropping in despite being even bigger mutants in the biological sense). And throughout the 2005 arc, they wrestled to keep their primal instincts in check and behave like Toa - putting the mission and the Matoran before themselves, thinking with their heads instead of their claws, not devolving into monsters as bad as the ones they’re supposed to fight, and more. For a while, it was a losing battle and, now that I think about it, from the moment they found Metru Nui shrouded in webs, I don’t think they shared a single fist bump until that moment in the hideaway. This was the moment they really committed to acting like Toa again, no matter what they looked like or felt. If the many different models each of the characters have had over years says anything, it’s that a Toa uses whatever they’ve got to accomplish the mission, whether it’s their real Toa Tools or Hordika weapons - real elemental powers that respond on command or Rhotuka Spinners they have to charge and fire. After all, it’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it. So after their chat with Keetongu, they decided to work with their new, animalistic forms, and stop regretting what they’d lost. And as for the psychological side of it, seeing what Vakama had become, I think, really cleared their heads about what their instincts would drive them to if they weren’t careful. So once again, that fist bump in the hideaway was them realizing that no matter how they looked, what they had, or what was eating them up inside, being a Toa is not just a job or a species, but a choice. They all came to choose this, one way or another, in the 2004 arc, and it was high time they started acting like it again. And what better way to start than with the traditional salute of the Toa? All that, I think, already makes that scene powerful enough, but there’s more when you factor in Keetongu. Say what you want about Norik (who, by this point, had not been a Toa in years), but Keetongu never had been a Toa, and still isn’t in the biological sense. But Matau didn’t hesitate to include him in the group fist bump. In not so many words, he invited Keetongu to be an honorary Toa. As both Jaller and Garan both remarked in 2006, “you don’t have to be a Toa to be a hero”. Again, I say, being a Toa is a choice. Sadly, this probably doesn’t come across to people who watch _Web of Shadows_ without reading the books or comics - looking at you, parents of _Bionicle_ fans everywhere - since the movie is just the 2005 arc chopped down to not even an hour and a half. But for those of us more versed in the lore, I think this is all there, snuck in by the geniuses behind this franchise. It’s one more reason to love being a fan of it. Anyway, I’m just building on top of your Deep Dive. Do with this comment what you will. (PS: I’m actually kind of surprised you didn’t mention the high five between Onua and Pohatu in Comic #11. Clearly something they did before the writers came up with the fist bump proper. Then again, maybe not relevant.)

Love this salute. I do it with my brother. Bonks are alien robots to us so giving them a specific way to salute and show affection is great, and they manage it greatly. In Transformers for example I've seen the bots bump their forearms as a salute between "Wreckers" and I like it a lot, but it's never had such impact as the fist bump from Bionicle ❤ Lhikan's death always make me tear up btw ;_;

This analysis ain't so pretty bad. It even makes me feel like writing my own characters into very thoughtful arcs.

The Toa salute is my favorite part in my own fanfics.

Can you explore whatever happened to the Great Beings?

Too bad Vakama went from fist bumping the legendary Lhikan to immediately simping for a lizard lady.

The Toa Mata didn’t remember their past together, I wonder who taught them about things like the fist bump. Most likely the Turaga, because they were Toa before.

Thank you for reigniting my passion for this story.

Love your analysis. You find so many details in simple things)

Just wanna say, as a fantasy writer I'm drawing lots of inspiration from your analysis of various tropes, motifs, characters, etc in Bionicle. It's one of my childhood favourites (1992 baby, kinda left it off after the Rahkshi series but now I'm revisiting it for the nostalgia).

It kinda reminds me of dawn of the planet of the apes when they use the right hand to forgiveness or like transformers when they say till all are one.

Acually....as Pohatu is the one always involved in the first few fistbumps we see, one at first would get the impression its a Pohatu thing. Just a quirk he has too show comradery with his fellow Toa

who knew way back then that Lego had given us the perfect greeting for the post covid world? 😆

great video!!

They turn my boy pohatu upsidedown

Love your deep dives bro, I've just recently discovered your channel and been absolutely hooked since. Looking forward to more, I'm literally just binge watching all the stuff you've put out currently